Why We Need Better Tests for Concussions Ken Willis wrote a wonderful series of articles in the Daytona Beach News-Journal entitled NASCAR and Concussions: An Old Problem, a New Concern. He starts with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., but touches on the long history of drivers now suffering the effects of hard…

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The Evolution of the Stock Car ADDITION: If you are more comfortable with Portuguese, check out this translation by Artur Weber and Adelina Domingos – and thanks to them for being interested enough in my work to do the tough job of translation. While many fans decried the look of…

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Driving Concussed This week brings the return of Jeff Gordon to the track, but under conditions I’m sure all of us wish were otherwise. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is out again (and will be next week) with “concussion-like” symptoms. Concussion, like many medical problems, is a chronic injury — meaning that it can…

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Concussions were big news in a week where no one actually got one. NASCAR announced a new policy on concussions : Starting in 2014, all drivers will be required to have a baseline test at the start of the season. NASCAR will be using the ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment Test)…

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I was lucky enough to speak with Dr. Mark Lovell, an innovator in neurocognitive testing inbetween talks at a conference he was attending. Dr. Lovell came to my attention as the developer of the ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment Testing) test, which was one of the tools used to evaluate Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s concussion.

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We all know that concussions are caused by hits to the head, but what actually IS a concussion and why is one forcing Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to step out of the car and effectively take himself out of the running for a championship?